Jaffe Morning Briefing - February 16, 2017

By JAFFE COMMUNICATIONS

February 16, 2017 at 10:35 AM

OUR TAKE ON THE NEWS IN NEW JERSEY

EN ROUTE - If you need a New Jersey politician today - and who doesn't? - you won't find one. Most will be on a train to Washington, D.C., departing out of Newark around 11:45 a.m., for the annual train ride sponsored by the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. This frolicking group will include 1,000 lobbyists and business owners hoping to hobnob with the politicians for the 80th annual trip. Expect the train to be chock full of gubernatorial candidates and others looking for access to campaign supporters, and business owners looking for access to power, or perhaps an on-board Bloody Mary. A special guest this year: the new archbishop of Newark.

EN ROUTE - As the train chug-chugs to D.C., expect plenty to thank Cardinal Joseph Tobin, the archbishop of Newark, for allowing girls to play on the boys' teams. There has been plenty of controversy - and some national news. And perhaps that's what prompted Tobin to reverse the expulsion of two sisters at St. Theresa's School in Kenilworth, as well as allow the 5th grade basketball team at St. John the Apostle School in Clark to play co-ed for the rest of the year. At least one Bloody Mary will be consumed in Tobin's honor.

ON THE ROADS - Great news for drivers ages 95 and over, who took their last driving test in a 1938 Packard. Apparently, they are not the worst-behaved drivers on New Jersey roads. That distinction goes to young millennials, ages 19-24. AAA reports these drivers are the absolute worst at speeding, texting while driving and running red lights. Meanwhile, very old drivers can never be accused of speeding in their sky blue Buicks, don't own smartphones and never actually reach a traffic light.

AT THE RESTAURANT - Big power lunch today? Better call ahead. New Jersey restaurants are bracing for immigrant workers to sit out the lunch-and dinner-rush for "A Day Without Immigrants." It's a statewide protest of President Donald Trump's immigration orders. Marilou Halvorsen, head of the state Restaurant & Hospitality Association, tells The Record many restaurant owners recognize "it's their (workers') right to freedom of speech." At least one owner is still paying no-show immigrant workers to show their enormous value. So, if you dine out tonight, expect to wash your own plates. Message Received.

VOORHEES - Awesome kindness from a 12-year-old girl who delivered 1,300 books to a children's hospital outpatient center on Valentine's Day. Charlotte Olson began her children's book drive on social media just before Christmas, with publicity help from family and her church. Children's Regional Hospital at Cooper's told the Courier-Post that it's the largest book donation it has ever received. Physicians and hospital staff will distribute the books to young patients as part of Cooper's Reach Out and Read program.

ATLANTIC CITY - The city continues to dig its way out, somehow convincing Borgata to accept only a $72 million tax refund, when the most successful casino in town was owed $165 million in tax overpayments over a number of years. And, in another example of moving away from a disastrous past, the name "Trump" is mercifully being removed from the shuttered Taj Mahal.

IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS

MEDINA, Ohio - At least one student at the University of Akron has a future - named the nation's top grocery bagger for two years in a row. The Medina Gazette reports that a 23-year-old accounting student has likely scored a full-time job, following his convincing win at the National Grocers Association's Best Bagger championship. He is now a proud employee of Buehler's Fresh Foods, where his apron is hung on one of the most prominent pegs.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

It was this day in 1985 that the Devils score their fastest hat trick - in just 42 seconds.

WORD OF THE DAY

Sward [sword] - noun

Definition: a patch of grass

Example: Even though it is February, I can still see a green sward in front of my house. Damn that global warming.

WEATHER IN A WORD

Brisk

Editor's Note: Jaffe Communications is the franchisee/publisher of TAPinto New Brunswick.

The opinions expressed herein are the writer's alone, and do not reflect the opinions of TAPinto.net or anyone who works for TAPinto.net. TAPinto.net is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by the writer.

MIDDLESEX COUNTY, NJ - On Tuesday, June 12th, elected county committee members of the Middlesex County Republican Organization will have a choice on who will be their next County Chair and party executive board.

Sharon D. Hubberman, former Middlesex County Freeholder Candidate, and current Perth Amboy Republican Chair has announced she will accept her nomination for the ...

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ - A development company affiliated with two apartment complexes near Neilson Street is now seeking approval for a 67-unit, six-story apartment building for a vacant lot on the street that would cover the entire lot and would exceed the four-story limit permitted in the zone.

The Community Builders, a Boston-based company doing building as Stirlingside Urban Renewal LLC, is ...

WARREN – Keeping Babies Safe (KBS), a national non-profit organization dedicated to educating young families about safe sleep for babies, today announced that Newton Baby is a “Charitable Sponsor” for 2018.

The proceeds from the sponsorship will be used to expand the non-profit’s mission for its “Be Smart About Safe Sleep™” campaign, which reaches ...

The Jaffe Briefing will not publish from Thursday through Monday. A great Memorial Day to all!

MANVILLE - If marijuana becomes legal in New Jersey, here's another town where you won't be able to buy it: Manville. The mayor and council unanimously voted to prohibit any sale of weed - recreational and medicinal - within Manville's borders. The ...

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ - Rutgers Athletics has selected Dyehard Fan Supply, an event and retail merchandise marketing and e-commerce company, as the official merchandising partner for the Scarlet Knights in a new multi-year agreement.Dyehard will handle game day and event merchandising for Rutgers Athletics.

The Jaffe Briefing will not publish from Thursday through Monday. A great Memorial Day to all!

OUR TAKE ON THE NEWS IN NEW JERSEY

SEASIDE HEIGHTS - Sex can be an almost-religious experience, but it seems a bit excessive to copulate under a statue of the Virgin Mary in a Catholic church's outdoor prayer garden. Yet, that's where ...

The Jaffe Briefing will not publish from Thursday through Monday. A great Memorial Day to all!

MANVILLE - If marijuana becomes legal in New Jersey, here's another town where you won't be able to buy it: Manville. The mayor and council unanimously voted to prohibit any sale of weed - recreational and medicinal - within Manville's borders. The ...

The Jaffe Briefing will not publish from Thursday through Monday. A great Memorial Day to all!

STATEWIDE - Should public school students be allowed to attend schools in other towns? That's the big, controversial question in a lawsuit filed against the state that looks to end what some consider to be the worst school segregation in the nation. The ...

IN COURT - Sounds like a cheesy thing to do, but the NJ Turnpike Authority has gone to court for years trying to stop a pizzeria chain whose logo is suspiciously similar to our beloved Garden State Parkway sign. Sure, nobody wants drivers searching for an on-ramp to end ...

MOUNTAINSIDE - Oh, where to begin describing this 46-page lawsuit against two Mountainside cops? A detective sergeant placing his testicles on co-workers' food. And throwing poop-smeared toilet tissue at them. And defecating in someone's boots. And taunting with a dildo dubbed "Big Blue" he liked to wave in cops' faces, as he chased ...

ATLANTIC CITY - Happy days are here again, as the state's once gasping gaming resort is expecting sports betting will rake in $150 million to $175 million a year in new, glorious profits - courtesy of your pals on the U.S. Supreme Court. Moreover, ecstatic Stockton University officials believe, this recharged gambling mecca will bring in a whole new ...

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ - Rutgers Athletics has selected Dyehard Fan Supply, an event and retail merchandise marketing and e-commerce company, as the official merchandising partner for the Scarlet Knights in a new multi-year agreement.Dyehard will handle game day and event merchandising for Rutgers Athletics.

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ - Eric Zwerling got a call this week from a man was living next to a fitness center, complaining he repeatedly heard the loud thud heavy free weights and medicine balls hit the floor.

The man was recovering from having a pace maker in his chest and wondering of the impact of the noise from the gym.

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ – Local cops are investigating an incident of ‘theft by deception’ involving the Plainfield Animal Hospital.

According to the incident report filed by Officer Justin Melanson and obtained by TAPinto, residents of South Plainfield took their pet rabbit to the Park Avenue animal hospital on April 4 to be euthanized due to advanced ...

OPINION

By
LARRY WHITE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NEW JERSEY STATE INTERSCHOLASTIC ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION, AND BOB GARDNER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL FEDERATION OF STATE HIGH SCHOOL ASSOCIATIONS

May 1, 2018

Dear TAPInto New Brunswick:

One of the responsibilities that parents take most seriously is protecting their children from injury, whether it is buckling seat belts in a car or wearing a helmet while riding a bike. And when their kids become teenagers and want to participate in sports or other activities, parents do everything they can to keep their sons and daughters from getting ...

BASKING RIDGE – Marion Johnson, a mathematician now known as New Jersey’s own “Hidden Figure,” took center stage at Girls Scouts Heart of New Jersey’s (GSHNJ) recent third-annual Young Women of Vision Leadership Breakfast.

Johnson inspired the crowd with her story as an engineer at NASA. It began as a journey from childhood in the segregated South ...